Above: This is a LIVE reading of The Arcana Crypto Tarot generated at midnight UTC every day. Check back daily for new readings.

Welcome to The Arcana Crypto Tarot.

Introducing The Arcana Crypto Tarot: the product of seven months' gestation – the world's first fully functional Major Arcana tarot NFT, born 14 April 2021 on programmable art platform Async. It generates a new randomized three-card reading daily at midnight UTC, which anyone may access with their query in mind. 

This deck features the 22 cards of the traditional Major Arcana as interpreted by 22 individual artists in 13 countries, the product of a spontaneous collaboration between a group of cryptoartists in 2020/2021, all of them inaugural members of Women of Cryptoart (WOCA). The deck was tokenized as an NFT on programmable art platform ASYNC in April 2021. In addition, 50 numbered, limited-edition print decks with hand-sewn reading-cloth wrappers have been created to commemorate the moment and as keepsakes for the artists and supporters involved. The remaining decks will be auctioned to benefit WOCA.

No one quite knows exactly how Tarot cards – the precursor to modern playing cards – were invented, or how they came to make the jump from being entertainment to occult divination tool. Generally it’s agreed that Tarot cards as we know them today evolved in medieval Europe. The symbolic archetypes of Tarot decks remained fairly consistent across the centuries, and many people will recognize the figures of the Hermit, the Fool, the Lovers, the Tower, the Hanged Man, and so on as anchors of Western psychology. 

In using this deck, you may find it useful to consult the cards’ traditional meanings. Much has already been written about these universal archetypes, so for these, we refer you to descriptions of the Rider Waite and other traditionally based Tarot decks. 

However, whenever you use divinatory tools to answer a question or get a perspective on a situation, it’s important to let one’s own associations come to the surface. In other words, the answers are not in the cards. The cards are just a tool to help you discover answers within yourself. That’s the magic.

How this deck works:

This deck may be used in any way you normally use Tarot. Typically, one lays a spread with a question or concern in mind, to see what insights emerge from contemplating the cards. We invite you to follow your intuition: whenever you feel you have a question or concern, formulate your question and visit the Tarot, and reflect on the day’s reading as it pertains to your situation.

A very easy reading to start with is a three-card spread, which is generally read as follows: 

Left card: What is past, or passing.
Centre card: What is occurring now. 
Right card: What is to come.

However, you may also interpret in other ways. For example: 
What you wish for / the obstacle being presented / how to overcome the obstacle
You / someone else / the relationship
What’s in your heart / what’s in your head / what’s in your spirit

... and so on. There are many more options. What’s important is how you frame the question. Look up Tarot spreads for more suggestions, including the classic Celtic Cross.

Cards in the spread may also appear upside-down – or "reversed”. There are many ways to interpret this reversal. Perhaps the card means the inverse or opposite of its upright intention, or it might be describing an interior, secret or hidden state, or it's indicating a reduced or receding influence. Stay open to the possibilities as you meditate on your question.


Here are a few words from each artist, giving her own particular description of the archetype she chose to depict in this deck.

The Lovers (oculardelusion); The Emperor (Lulu); The Hierophant (Iñes Merino)

The Lovers (oculardelusion); The Emperor (Lulu); The Hierophant (Iñes Merino)

0 The Fool 
Artist: y0b
A leap into the cliff, a universe of randomness and intent. Colorful hills beyond.

I The Magician
Artist: Kristy Glas
She is pure and passionate, connected to spiritual and material realms. She seeks balance and knowledge through constant growth.

II The High Priestess
Artist: Cristiana Vettor (combugnera)
This card indicates the search for female knowledge, clairvoyance, the search for the secret and the future; her knowledge is mostly initiatory, therefore forbidden to most people and reserved only to a few.

III The Empress
Artist: SpaceDivers
She stands powerful and dancing, between nature and imagination, the pattern of creation and knowledge of birth are flows and breaths of reality, whether material or ethereal.

IV The Emperor
Artist: Lulu
Control through intelligence, the strength you need to stand straight.

V The Hierophant
Artist: Inês Merino
A rite of passage – infinite wisdom and guidance, magic, shining the brightest light within… As we close this chapter, a new beginning unfolds.

VI The Lovers
Artist: oculardelusion
In the sacred beech grove’s purple light, divine union of requited love, of union with the Divine. All is One.

VII The Chariot
Artist: The Bad Lament
The Chariot brings forth the brave winged warrioress, with the moon at her back, determined and ambitious.

VIII
Strength
Artist: LUVRworldwide
The alignment of truths in mind, body and spirit fuels our source from within, empowering a spectrum of peaceful passion and disciplined determination.

IX The Hermit
Artist: Stina Jones
The hermit ventures forth, carving her own path through the wilderness.

X The Wheel of Fortune
Artist: Sparrow
The Wheel of Fortune is never not a part of life. When this card appears it is a reminder: change is the only constant.

XI Justice
Artist: Kitty Bast
“Karma’s a Bitch.”

XII The Hanged Man
Artist: Daira
It is best to be sure to be willing to change.

XIII Death
Artist: DaniellaDoodles
While there is death, there is also life - death allows for new growth and change.

XIV Temperance
Artist: Vanesa Stati
Temperance tests waters with one foot on solid ground, it’s the wise step, the guide from a lower plane to a higher one that enjoys natural protection, which denotes and promove a point of balance: moderation, patience, purpose, tenacity, adaptation, acceptance, harmonization, reason, flow...

XV
The Devil
Artist: Cechk
The seduction of the devil can materialise in the physical realm as well on the mind, it has lust and obsession, it longs for power, but also lives in fear and strives for domination. The Devil is good and bad, and you’re the one that will decide who it will be. 

XVI
The Tower
Artist: Brandi Kyle
A standing reminder of the perils we face, the Tower card depicts possibilities of catastrophe, destruction, renovation, or just simply unexpected change.

XVI The Star
Artist: Silje Thorn
She is at peace with renewed purpose and hope, nourishing her surroundings with the conscious and the subconscious in equilibrium.

XVIII The Moon
Artist: St Heresy
As she is kind and sweet, she is also deceptive and dangerously beckoning. She is the holder of your secrets, and she holds no judgement.

XIX
The Sun
Artist: Gisel Florez
Circadian rhythms radiating the ultimate path of purpose & source.  

XX
Judgement
Artist: Marigold
The announcement of a new era is coming. A new World will be born after the Judgement.

XXI
The World
Artist: CrypticFauna
She holds the past and uplifts the future, and provides all pathways into either direction. 


We hope this deck brings you a lifetime of insight and guidance. We also invite you to learn more on our website www.womenofcrypto.art and to follow us on social media at @hellowoca.


FURTHER LINKS AND INFORMATION

>>> The Tarot on ASYNC platform
>>> Article: WOCA Releases World’s First Fully Functioning Tarot NFT
>>> Article: Interactive NFTs: Playing with the Arcana Crypto Tarot
>> WOCA gallery where Tarot is currently installed
>>> WOCA website

Interview with WOCA Tarot artists on Vertical Cryptoart.